[noCensorship] Re: How to use LP ? for some one who does not know CVS
- From: wayne <wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: nocensorship@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 2 Oct 2003 21:23:41 -0000
> From: rainman <rainman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: nocensorship@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [noCensorship] How to use LP ? for some one who does not know CVS
Let me summarize the whole of my response below up here:
Nothing you mention below actually *needs* to be done, or
understood. It's all just bells and whistles - and there
are *so* many of them in the proxyTools project :-)
Here's the right place for me to ask this too.
Should I package up the current CVS proxyTools as a new release?
Is there any demand for that?
> Thanks wayne.
>
> Let us see if I understand this correctly
>
> 1. I download Pearl and install that. What is the smallest (in terms of
> size) version of Perl I should / I can use ?
It will be about 10MB (I haven't checked lately).
You *need* to do that once only. You might want to use Perl for
other things, so you might want to keep it up to date too.
Your alternative is to get the Windows download of proxyTools by
itself.
> 2. I down load your Source code version of LP and install the same
> Here I have a question. Can I download & use LP, WITHOUT knowing CVS.
> (i.e.) is there some URL from where I can download LP.
Sure, you can get the released Windows version, or the source
version of the code from my sourceforge project.
They work.
It's a point and click download; winzip to unpack; standard
windows stuff. No understanding required ...
> Then every
> subsequent time delete the old stuff & download the whole stuff afresh ..
> though that may not be the best way to do it
You don't *need* to do that at all, unless I have mentioned there's
a bug and it happens to affect something you need to have working
properly.
But it's tiny.
Once you have Perl installed, the source code for the
whole project is just a few hundred KB.
The old stuff doesn't need to be deleted - it just gets overwritten.
Don't have LP (or any of the proxy tools) running when you do this!
If you really want to keep up with the latest code, those downloads
would take just minutes even for a modem user.
Users probably should update the proxy database every month or so,
but that's just 100KB (and just one button click from the LP gui).
> 3. Later use the proxy list you have given below (please mention what is
> the method to make LP use this proxy list rather than use the standard list
> that comes with it)
It's automatic if you put it in the LP directory (that placement
is done automatically if you use the 'Update proxies' button).
You need to restart LP to get the new database used for a
new run, of course. Don't try to use a 'last' or 'saved'
configuration for the restart (they ignore any new proxies).
> 4. Hit the "Go anaonymous " button
> Here again - does this "Go anonymous" encrypt communications between my
> machine and the choosen proxy.
No, it just chooses to use 'anonymous' proxies (the web site
doesn't see what IP address you are at).
It sounds like you are asking about 'privacy' - a different thing
entirely. Out of the box, LP doesn't guarantee privacy at all.
Nor does HTTPort, use of any of the anon proxies posted here, use
of shell accounts (in the basic way), etc., etc.
All of these are really just packet switchers, or external proxies.
In other words, users are almost always completely lacking in
privacy (from their ISP).
If you understand LP, you can improve your ISP privacy, by
telling LP to use only commStrat 1, but even that relies on
the ISP not looking very carefully at what you are doing.
There is only one way to (almost) ensure your privacy - use
encrypted tunnels.
LP does not do this by itself, but if you understand what it
does, and you have some way to handle decryption outside (say
a shell with sshd), then it's (usually) not hard to set up LP
with encryption, so ask me about your specific case.
> I am worried about 2 issues
> (1) Local Big brother - to some extent
> (2) my sys admin. - to a much larger extent
Everyone would love to be invisible to their admin/ISP, but it's
impossible. They own the cables from your desk/house in many
cases, and they always have access to every packet of data you
send and receive.
The best you can do is to allow them to see your initial connection
(which may be innocuous), and thereafter ensure that everything
is encrypted.
> While what I do is 100% above ground, I'm at a place where concepts such as
> civil liberties don't exist :-((
Heh, aren't we all (well ... 90% of the people on this list anyway).
The truth is that most such places don't take any action based on
their logs, but you wouldn't want to count on that if the punishment
was imprisonment or worse.
There's a doc on the safety of these kinds of activities in the
proxyTools help as well.
> So what precautions should I take to avoid - AT LEAST my sys admin
> snooping. I've heard that I should set up an SSL Tunnel ... to an ANON
> proxy,.. though that is too much for me to understand :-((
Me too. :-)
I have never had much luck with SSL, but CONNECT through a
proxy is used by LP (commStrat 1). There's no encryption possible
unless there's an end point decryption somewhere (like a web site,
so you can encrypt to your bank, etc.). I've always thought I
should spend some time to investigate, find, test, and use any
proxies which could allow LP to connect to them using SSL, but
the truth is it would involve a lot of work adding the SSL code,
and it's more easily done in other ways.
Personally, I use ssh to a shell account (with some port
forwarding) and tell LP to use my end of that tunnel as it's
target proxy/service. Then everything is encrypted. I use a
script to set this up (executed from the localProxy 'run script'
button). Example scripts are provided in the proxyTools
distribution, but I'm sure some help would be needed to set
these (and ssh) up for your own system.
> 5. Keep updating the proxy list
That's just a click, so no problem. Certainly do it when you think
LP is slowing down, or getting pages unreliably. If I were you,
I would just do it every day - it would probably be finished before
you could decide if you really needed to do it or not.
In the past, I've left it for over a month, though, and not
noticed a significant difference.
> 6. Anything else ??
Not usually, but there are lots of exceptions of course.
If you don't care to keep up with the latest code, and your
ISP doesn't change your network drastically, there is nothing more
to do for years (literally!). For example, the original LP written
2 years ago should still work with the latest proxy database.
Then, though, things were harder. You needed to create a special
configuration to use anonymous proxies, for example.
If you want to keep up with the code, the problem is a bigger one
(at least the initial setup is), but there's no real requirement
for this.
> TIA
> DG
>
>
> On 1 Oct 2003, wayne <wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> [..................]
>
> >>
> >>I always recommend my localProxy (of course!).
> >>It's free, and under your own control.
> >>It's 100% flexible, if you're willing to look at the code.
> >>Maybe only 50% flexible if you're only willing to look at
> >>the documentation.
> >>And it still works if you're not willing to read anything.
> >>
> >>It runs out of the box for newbies, but if you're willing
> >>to learn a bit, it will do almost anything you need.
> >>
> >>I'm not saying it's easy to understand, but I'm usually here to
> >>help, and you won't crash and burn while waiting for some help.
> >>LP is designed to be robust. Once you get it going, it gets
> >>slower and less reliable as time passes if the user has no
> >>understanding, but doesn't usually stop, even under the most
> >>difficult circumstances.
> >>
> >>I suggest the Perl source code version (and some CVS updates);
> >>the Windows executable (the code can't be updated by the user) is
> >>getting pretty old now. Even the Windows version though, can
> >>use the latest proxy database as I already posted.
> >>
> >>........proxy
> >>list from the proxyTools database follows.
> >>To use anonymously, use localProxy's 'Go Anonymous' button:
> >>62.2.214.170:8000
[...]
Surely you didn't really need to quote this whole list again!
You also said:
> From: rainman <rainman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: nocensorship@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [noCensorship] "Module name " for a CVS checkout
>
> Dear Wayne
>
> Follow up on what I asked earlier
> ------------------------------------------
>
> I tried my hand at CVS !
>
> If I try to download the latest release
Releases are on the files page as zips, not in CVS, but I know
what you mean. CVS is stuff that's 'work in progress', and I can't
promise it even runs (except on *my* development system, that is).
> using CVS (Option 1 - I'm using
> Windows 2000 and CVS from the command line )
>
> I used cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:/cvsroot/proxytools
> login and then ENTER to log in
>
> - then For the check out command,
> "..cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:/cvsroot/proxytools co
> modulename.."
> what is the module name I should use ? (I tried proxytools, localproxy etc.
> and those didn't work :-(()
Try the correct case, proxyTools, I think.
On the sf CVS page ('latest development version'), you can see
the module names.
SourceForge recently changed their CVS system. It's possible there
is a problem there too.
> ...in general ...
> - If I do not know the module name (here or in other cases), how do I find
> a list of modules in a CVS repository ? (i.e.) what is the command for
> that . I can't find this command with cvs --help or cvs --help options
I don't remember seeing such an option.
Look at the sf page to find the names.
> - How do I make CVS create a working copy in a specific directory ?- say I
> have d:\..some directory\.. some other sub directory ..\Local Proxy as my
Akk! Don't put spaces in there. That's just asking for trouble.
> Lp directory. How do I make CVS create a working copy every time in this
> directory
Once you've checked out, you just do a 'cvs update' from the directory
itself. The initial checkout needs to be done from above the directory
you want LP in.
> - Is it better to switch from this command line and start using WinCVS ?
Did you read the proxyTools help?
The whole winCVS installation and setup is documented there.
If localProxy GUI is running, click 'Help'.
If it's not running, double-click
I prefer the command line myself. After the initial checkout, it's
simply 'cvs update' to commit changes and download the latest
changes.
I use the Cygwin version of cvs, because I would not expect any
Windows version to be standards compliant.
> Option 2 : In WIN CVS, what should I use / enter in
> - Admin -> Preference -> enter CVS root ? - what should I enter here
> - What should I choose under the authentication tab (Local mounted
> dirctory / passwd file on CVS server / SSH server / NT server are the
> choices
> - Where should I enter the password
I don't remember.
Ask again if you still have problems after reading my help doc.
> God ! I think I've got to join the WIN CVS mailing list next :-))
Take the easy options first. :-)
> TIA
> DG
I know that this package *is* hard to understand for new users.
I've done what I can to make sure that, even without understanding,
it's simple to install, start, and use.
The package is very complicated and providing a newbie-friendly
interface has been a challenge, to say the least.
I only use those components when installing on someone else's
computer, so they are not as well tested as the real code, so
I'm very interested in hearing about problems or suggestions in
this area.
--
wayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://proxytools.sourceforge.net/
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